This invention relates generally to camper shells and, more particularly, to a modular enclosure that can be quickly installed on conventional utility trailers or the beds of pickup trucks, for example, that is lightweight and portable, is customizable to meet any size and application requirement, and is easily assembled, stored, and shipped.
Various enclosures for utility trailers, pickup truck beds, and travel trailers intended for camping, hunting, fishing, and hauling are well known in the prior art. Open utility trailers and pickup truck beds provide a mobile chassis for such enclosures. None of these prior art enclosures, however, offers strength, light weight, and versatility. For example, none of the prior art dedicated camping trailers can be easily and quickly assembled by a user for mounting on a vehicle or removed from the vehicle and disassembled for compact storage in order to be in compliance with the requirements of many cities, which prohibit storage of recreational vehicles on a residential lot, thus requiring owners to pay for expensive storage in a commercial lot.
Many prior art enclosures are factory-assembled for permanent mounting on an integrated mobile chassis. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,894,783 to Bird describes a towed camping trailer. U.S. Pat. No. 3,574,390 to Metsker describes a camping trailer having reinforced walls. U.S. Pat. No. 5,042,395 to Wackerle et al. describes a modular vehicle body. U.S. Pat. No. 5,769,478 to Vernese describes a method for manufacturing a horse trailer. U.S. Pat. No. 7,390,052 to Bertoch et al. describes a recreational vehicle constructed of modular components. U.S. Pat. No. 5,653,494 to Cleall et al. describes a modular trailer.
Various prior art enclosures for mounting on pickup truck beds are removable, but are difficult to handle due to their bulk and weight. U.S. Pat. No. 5,738,747 to Blanchard, for example, describes a method of manufacturing a pickup camper shell, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,603,901 to McIntosh et al. describes a pickup camper shell having a liftable top.
Other prior art enclosures utilize tubing and fabric in an attempt to make them lighter and more portable, but they lack the insulation and solid walls that are required to protect cargo or occupants. Representative of this prior art is U.S. Pat. No. 6,283,536 to Muzyka et al. which describes a folding camper system for pickup trucks.
Prior art camping trailers are generally too heavy and bulky to be efficiently towed by today's small automobiles and SUVs. Representative of the attempts to solve this problem are the collapsible trailer described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,567,516 to Jones and the teardrop travel trailer having an airfoil shape that is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,488,030 to Nadeau. While lighter in weight so that they can be towed by small vehicles having towing capacities of less than one thousand pounds, these prior art camping trailers lack utility in other applications.
It would be advantageous to provide an enclosure for mounting on a utility trailer or pickup truck that is quickly and easily assembled by a user from modular light weight components that can be compactly packaged for storage and shipment, that is very portable, and that is adaptable in size and application.
It would be further advantageous to provide a modular enclosure that is sufficiently light weight to be towed by today's small, fuel-efficient motor vehicles.
It would be further advantageous to provide a modular enclosure that can be quickly and easily loaded onto and unloaded from a utility trailer or pickup truck, thereby preserving the cargo transport utility of the trailer, or pickup truck.
It would be further advantageous to provide a modular enclosure having a pop-up top that presents a low profile when the modular enclosure is being towed, but that allows people to stand erect inside it.
In accordance with the illustrated embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of modular foam-encapsulated side panel assemblies and two foam-encapsulated corner panel assemblies are arranged in adjacent positions in U-shaped anchor channels secured along three edges of a rectangular floorboard to form a front wall and two side walls of the modular enclosure. The side panel and corner panel assemblies each include a plurality of molded key pins and key sockets that are positioned for mating engagement to secure the panel assemblies in strict alignment when adjacently positioned in the anchor channels. A door frame assembly fits into the open rear end of the modular enclosure. A pop-up canopy assembly is installed over the top of the modular enclosure to provide additional head room during use. Alternatively, a non-extendable roof top may be installed. Two lengths of a gird belt are attached to the door frame assembly, and the two free ends are routed forward along horizontal gird belted channels molded in the exterior surface of each of the side and corner panel assemblies. The free ends of the gird belt are cinchably joined at the front end of the modular enclosure to secure the side and corner panel assemblies in their assembled positions.